Departure
by augmentedfourth
Summary: Dr. Montague must get his priorities in order before leaving for Ragol.
1. Part One: Arrival

_AN: Playing the "real" ending to the "Soul of Steel" quest (aka, the Sue/Bernie subplot) is probably a necessary prerequisite to reading this story. It's the better ending, anyway._

* * *

Clio Lawrence stepped through the automatic doors of the hospital and looked up at the darkening sky. After walking one block, she stopped on a corner underneath a street lamp and lit a cigarette. As a nurse, she knew the dangers of smoking and how much damage she was doing to her lungs with every puff, but another look up at the colorful clouds reminded her that it probably didn't matter much anyway.

To the untrained eye, it may have looked like a beautiful, surreal sunset. To the natives of Coral, it was a reminder of their inevitable doom. Their abuse of the land, sea, and air had led to the upset of the delicate balance of the ecological systems and the overall environment was failing. Scientists couldn't pinpoint exactly how long the planet would still be habitable, but they all agreed that nothing could save it. It had been several years since the official reports had come out, but somehow, Coral was still clinging on to life.

Clio finished her cigarette and put it out on the sidewalk. She checked her wristwatch to help her decide which bus to take. Deciding that as it wasn't too late and she didn't have to report back to the hospital until the following afternoon, she boarded the one heading towards the outskirts of the city.

The house on the hill was small, yet comfortable. From the outside, no one could know about the expansive laboratory built underneath it. Though Dr. Jean Carlo Montague was still relatively young, the proceeds from his research and his salary from his consulting work with Coral's government allowed him to buy the charming cottage and set up his own workplace. Glancing at her reflection in one of the windows, the pretty newman ran her fingers through her shoulder-length blue hair before entering.

"Good evening, Ms. Lawrence."

"Call me Clio." She had had this exact exchange with the red android who'd greeted her so many times, her response was practically automatic.

"Yes, Clio. The doctor is downstairs, would you like me to inform him of your arrival?"

"Thanks, Ult, but I'll go see him myself." Clio walked over to the basement door and descended the stairs. Dr. Montague was hunched over his computer keyboard, typing frantically, and didn't hear her come down. The pink and silver android filing documents beside him saw her, though, and called out a friendly greeting.

"Hello, Clio!"

"Hi, Elenor." Elenor was a newer model than her "sister" and could retain simple requests with much better consistency. Her artificial intelligence programming was more advanced than Ult's and gave off the impression that she would be the older sister, if they were human; in reality, the reverse was true.

The busy doctor stopped what he was doing and spun around in his chair, a smile on his face. "Hey, there you are! It's been a few days, hasn't it?"

Clio knew that Elenor wouldn't let him stay holed up in the basement laboratory for too long, but she also knew that Jean's concept of passing time could be inaccurate, especially when he was lost in his research. She crossed the room and gave him a light kiss. "You know how hard they work me at the hospital. Have you eaten dinner yet?"

He scratched his chin and gave the question some serious thought. "I don't think so..." Elenor shook her head behind him.

"I'll go upstairs and make something with Ult. Come upstairs in twenty minutes." She looked up at the android, who silently confirmed the instructions.

Thanks to Elenor, Jean arrived at the kitchen table before the food did. The caring nurse reassured him that she was nearly finished preparing the meal and casually asked about his day. "Elenor, I think we're done for the night. You can take Ult downstairs with you," the scientist instructed. Normal children would have put up a fuss at being sent to bed so early, but the two androids obediently retreated to their charging capsules. Once they were gone, Jean started babbling about star systems, spaceships, artificial living environments, and other things that usually made Clio's head spin.

As he talked, she set down two plates of food and took a seat across from him. Without pausing in his description of his day's activities, he removed his tinted glasses and set them down on the table. Though she had seen them countless times before, the piercing blue of his clear, bright eyes never failed to momentarily captivate her.

She thought about the first time she had seen those beautiful eyes. The absent-minded doctor had come into the emergency room after a small explosion in his lab. He'd been grumbling to himself about careless mistakes, but Clio had convinced him to let her do a quick examination to assess his injuries. It appeared that he only had minor burns on his hands and arms, but as she wanted to be thorough, she'd asked him to remove his glasses.

Clio had always thought of herself as a grounded, no-nonsense sort of person, but his brilliant gaze had somehow distracted her from her exam. Though she had just met him (and she felt silly admitting this later on), she felt she could see his great intelligence behind those eyes and she felt drawn to it. Most of the visitors to the emergency room that night had been incoherent drunks in need of a nap and a shower and she had needed the reprieve.

As she cheerfully bandaged him up, the friendly nurse asked him about his laboratory. He was vague in some of his answers, but seemed glad that someone had actually asked him about his work. While she was putting the last piece of tape on the dressing, the young doctor shyly asked if she'd like to hear more about his research sometime, perhaps over dinner. Though the small, thoughtful man wasn't her usual "type", something had compelled her to accept the invitation.

"Clio? Did you hear me?" Jean's voice snapped her back to the present.

"...I'm sorry, I was just thinking about something that happened at work."

He wasn't upset. "I said that the crew of the Pioneer 1 contacted us, they plan to land on Ragol soon."

Ragol was the planet that could be their salvation. Automated space probes had reported a compatible living environment and the gigantic spaceship Pioneer 1, filled with hunters, scientists, and some brave colonists who had volunteered for the mission, had finally reached it. Clio was intrigued. "What happens next?" she asked.

"If they can survive on Ragol, we begin preparations for launching the Pioneer 2." Dr. Montague had been too young to work on the original Pioneer project, but he had been an integral part of its successor. Clio had to admit she wasn't exactly sure of everything he did, but she knew that his contributions to the project had been very time-consuming. As they were still ongoing, she was almost surprised that she and Elenor had managed to drag him out of the basement.

"It will take many months for the ship to be ready and for us to finalize the details of our plans," Jean continued. "I'm optimistic, though, that everything will go according to our expectations."

Clio cleared the empty dishes from the table and left them in the sink for Ult to deal with in the morning. Jean put a hand on her arm and looked up at her inquisitively. "Are you staying tonight or do you have to go home?" he asked softly.

She smiled. "I can stay. I don't have to be back at the hospital until later tomorrow."

The two newmans preferred to sleep in the nude, perhaps as a callback to their animal ancestors. Jean wrapped his arms around the smaller woman and pulled her close to him. She snuggled up against his body and asked, "Isn't it nice getting out of that dark basement every now and then?"

He chuckled and brushed his lips against hers. "Only if you're upstairs waiting for me."

She moved her mouth to his ear and whispered, "I would hope I'd be enough temptation to occasionally get you away from your research."

"Oh, you are." He rolled her on top of him and could feel her heart beating against his chest. "I do love a good distraction from time to time."

Clio propped herself up on her arms and raised her eyebrows. "That's all you love?" she playfully asked.

He laughed. "You! I love you!" He pulled her back down to him and kissed her, burying his fingers in her mass of dark blue hair.

When Clio awoke the following morning, she was surprised that Jean was still in the bed with her. The doctor was normally an early riser, but today was an exception. The concerned nurse frowned as she watched him sleeping deeply. It was entirely possible that he hadn't slept in a long time, as he sometimes had a tendency to completely lose himself in his work, despite Elenor's best efforts to keep him on a normal schedule.

She showered quickly and got dressed before heading for the kitchen, where she was greeted by Ult. "Good morning, Ms. Lawrence."

"Call me Clio," she sighed.

It wasn't long before Elenor joined them in the small room. Clio helped the androids tidy up from the previous evening and made idle conversation with them. Sometimes it was easy to forget that they weren't human, especially Elenor.

"Don't get involved with a man who has kids! At your age, you need a someone who will focus on you!" a coworker had once told her, only half-joking. As Jean was several years younger than her, Clio hadn't thought this piece of advice would be necessary; she was slightly surprised, however, the first time he introduced her to "his girls", as he called them. He had created both of them by himself and exhibited the same fatherly love and pride that she had seen in her friends who were parents. Their little family was a departure from the norm, but Clio was able to accept the situation. She did still wonder, though, when she would be able to start a family of her own.

The awakened doctor entered the kitchen and let out a small yawn. "Good morning," he greeted them. He kissed the blue-haired newman on the cheek. "Somehow, I always sleep better when you're here."

"That's because I feed you well," she teased.

Jean looked down at the floor. "Maybe we should think about you staying here all the time," he said shyly.

Clio had been waiting for this topic to come up in conversation, but she hadn't been expecting it that morning. She also suddenly felt very aware of the two androids in the room listening for a response. "I suppose we could give it a try." As the words came out of her mouth, she realized she didn't sound very reassuring. She slid her arms around Jean's waist and kissed him. "After my shift today, I'll go back to my apartment and pack some things to bring over."

His face brightened. "I was hoping you'd agree to it."

"I thought you'd never ask," she laughed.

Elenor's metallic face displayed the same blank expression it always did, but she warmly voiced her approval of the decision. "I'm so glad you'll be living with us, Clio."

"Yes, it sometimes gets lonely around here when the doctor is so involved with his research," Ult chimed in.

They may not have been the children that Clio wanted someday, but there would be time for that later, she thought. For the rest of the day, her stomach was in knots as she contemplated both the excitement and fear of taking this big step in her relationship with Jean. She loved him, and was secure in his love for her, and the exhilaration only intensified as she realized he may be the person with whom she wanted to spend the rest of her life.


	2. Part Two: Departure

Clio stood outside on the porch and looked up at the moon, which was partially obscured by a hazy purple cloud. It had been six months since she had moved into the small house on the hill and she was still getting used to the relative quiet of suburbia. She inhaled on her lit cigarette – a habit she had been trying to break at Jean's request, but when she was especially stressed, there was no substitute for the nerve-calming toxic chemicals. A noise from inside briefly startled her, and, thinking the doctor was finally finished working for the night, she pushed open the door.

Instead of finding Jean, the anxious nurse found Elenor sitting by herself. She was instantly alarmed, as the pink android rarely left Jean's side when he was hard at work. "Elenor, is something wrong?" she asked.

"Um...not really...I don't know." As the shy android was unable to display facial expressions, Clio sometimes had trouble telling what was on her artificial mind. The newman took a seat and silently implored her to voice her concerns.

"I...I'm just worried about the doctor. He's always been dedicated to his research, but I've never seen him like this before. He almost seems...distracted by something."

Clio knew she was right, for Elenor had verbalized the thoughts going through her own mind. As the projected launch date for the Pioneer 2 grew closer, she had expected Jean to be very busy, but Elenor was correct in her perceptions – something was different. Normally, the cheerful scientist was always willing to ramble on incessantly about his latest bit of research, regardless of whether she was actually paying attention, but over the past month or so, he had been quieter and more withdrawn.

Getting him out of that damned basement had been increasingly difficult for the women in the house. Clio would never dream of looking through his files without his permission, but several times, she had sat quietly on the stairs watching him work. She hated herself for stooping to what was essentially spying on him, and whatever answers she did get only confused her more.

Video calls had been coming in from members of Coral's military. Clio had known that much of Jean's research was for the government, but she had never seen him be directly involved with military personnel before. There were also calls from a newman woman with short pink hair; thoughts of infidelity only briefly crossed Clio's mind, but based on the tone of Jean's voice when he spoke to the woman, he had no romantic feelings towards her whatsoever. Jean had never discussed any of the calls with her, and she didn't like feeling as if he was keeping something from her.

After briefly telling Elenor that she shared in her concerns, Clio stormed down the stairs and physically pulled Jean away from his cluttered desk. "You have been down here for well over seventeen hours," she reprimanded. "You need to come upstairs now."

Jean blinked several times behind his glasses. "I just need to finish typing up this one part." Clio crossed her arms and gave him a pointed look. "I'll be up in five minutes," he promised.

The nurse's stern look didn't disappear. "Five minutes," she repeated before turning around and leaving him alone.

Back in the kitchen, Clio contemplated making something to eat for them, but she decided to wait until the doctor was back upstairs. After five minutes had passed, she debated going back downstairs, but she sat down at the table instead. After ten minutes, she noticed that her eyelids were getting heavy and she fought to stay awake. By the time fifteen minutes had passed, she had rested her head on her arms and was fast asleep.

When she opened her eyes next, the morning sun was shining in through the kitchen window. Though the nurse was used to sometimes sleeping strange hours, it took her a moment to figure out where she was. As she felt an ache in her back, she gradually realized that she had never made it to bed the previous night.

Jean was exactly as she'd left him, typing away obliviously. He was so engrossed in whatever it was he was doing, he didn't even hear the angry woman stomping downstairs behind him. As a result, it came as a complete shock to him when someone grabbed him by the hand and forcibly led him out of his laboratory.

_You always wanted a child_, Clio thought to herself. _Maybe this will be good practice_. The small newman was surprisingly strong and she was able to get Jean out of the basement and sit him in a chair rather easily. She glared at him, but he was trying his hardest to avoid her gaze.

"I don't know how long I can keep doing this," she said, trying to keep her voice even. "I've known from the day I met you how devoted you are to your projects, I've always admired that about you. But you were never like this before; something's changed, and I'm not the only one who's noticed." She sat down across from him. "I know you've been busy with the Pioneer 2 project, but I can tell that's not it. What's going on?"

He still tried desperately to avoid eye contact. "I can't tell you," he mumbled.

Clio couldn't have imagined a less satisfactory answer. "I think that if I'm going to be sleeping on a _table_ waiting for you to finally drag yourself away from your lab, I have a right to know what you're doing down there."

Jean rubbed his eyes, starting to feel the effects of sleep deprivation. "I don't want to get you involved," he told her.

"I think that's an ongoing problem," she said softly. The nurse's anger was now tinged with a hint of sadness. "Moving here was a big change for me, but it doesn't seem to have affected your daily routine that much. If anything, I've seen you less over the past month than I did when I lived downtown." She reached out and tilted his chin towards her so she was staring directly into those impossibly blue eyes. "Tell me what's wrong. Please."

He shook his head just slightly, a movement almost so imperceptible, it was easy to miss. "If I could, I would. I don't want to see you get hurt," he said in a voice barely above a whisper.

All the feelings Clio had tried to lock away for the past four weeks rose to the surface and tried to escape all at once. "Hurt? _Hurt_? Do you know what hurts? Moving my life here and barely having it acknowledged hurts. Sitting up night after night wondering when you're actually going to spend time with me hurts." Her voice was much louder now and she was vaguely aware of two androids listening in from the next room. The flow of emotions was unstoppable, though, and she turned away from him, unable to look at him while continuing. "Watching my friends move on to the next part of their lives while wondering if my absent boyfriend is ever going to marry me hurts."

The brilliant doctor was unable to come up with a suitable response, but Clio needed the silence after her outburst. After several minutes had passed, he finally spoke. "I didn't realize you were so unhappy," he said sadly.

"That's because you've been downstairs for a month," she automatically snapped. "If you're working on something with classified information, I guess I could have understood that if you had actually been around to tell me that. But it's becoming more clear to me that I just don't play a very big part in your life."

"That's not true. We need you here."

"'We'? Elenor and Ult don't need me for anything. Living, breathing children would need me, but I'm afraid they don't count." She knew that remark would sting, but she was too upset to care at the moment. "You got along just fine before I came along, and I'm sure you'll be okay when I'm gone." Clio had meant to say "if", not "when", and she hadn't realized she had made a conscious decision until the words came out of her mouth.

Jean looked startled, but the realization that he was losing something important had come too late. "Can't I change your mind?" he quietly asked.

Clio badly wanted him tell her all sorts of promises that couldn't be kept, but she knew that they would only be prolonging the inevitable. The rage had dissipated, and she was able to speak more calmly. "You are a kind and intelligent man, Jean. The people of Coral have a lot to thank you for, because the work you've done for them is invaluable." She'd managed to fight back the tears so far, but she felt them forming at the corners of her eyes. "You're always going to do wonderful things in your life, and I thought that maybe I could fit into that life, but I just don't."

She walked over to him and lightly kissed him on the forehead. "You need to sleep now...don't even try to argue. I'll be quiet when I gather my belongings, and when you wake up, you'll continue doing the great things you've always done. Same as always."

Had the doctor actually slept sometime in the past forty-eight hours, he may have put up more of a fight, but his lack of energy led to silent acceptance. He gave Clio one last look before trudging to the bedroom, where he collapsed onto the bed and immediately succumbed to slumber. The crying newman waited until she was sure he was out cold before slipping in to pack up her clothing, as she really hadn't brought that much else to the small house.

Upon emerging from the bedroom, Clio felt the metallic eyes of the sisters upon her. She turned to face Elenor, whose inability to form facial expressions belied her artificial feelings. "I think he'll be all right, but keep an eye on him just in case, okay?" she finally said.

The pink android nodded. Her sister, however, did not seem to understand. "Will you be gone long, Ms. Lawrence?" Ult asked.

Clio raised an eyebrow at Elenor, who wordlessly accepted her second task. "Probably," she eventually answered. "I don't know when I'll be back."

As she stood waiting for the bus, Clio pulled out her communication device and started flipping through her list of friends and coworkers, trying to decide who would be most willing to take her in for a few days. Perhaps it had been pessimistic of her to only sublet her apartment, rather than giving it up completely, but she felt a little bit better knowing she could soon return to her home. She hadn't been waiting long when the bus arrived, ready to take her away from the little house on the hill for the last time.


	3. Part Three: Flight

Clio was slightly surprised to hear from Jean only several weeks after she had left his house so abruptly. Against her better judgment, she agreed to see him, but insisted he travel downtown to her. She was looking out her window at the muddled horizon, mindlessly fiddling with her lit cigarette, when she heard the knock at the door.

"Come in, it's open," she called.

She heard him enter behind her, but she didn't turn around, afraid that healing wounds would be reopened by looking at him. "What do you want?"

He closed the door behind him, but didn't come any closer to her. "The Pioneer 2 leaves for Ragol in a month, the official announcement is being released tomorrow," he said.

"That's good."

"I can make sure there's a space for you on board. I want you to come with me."

Clio finally turned her head to look at him. He still looked exhausted, and she was concerned; however, she maintained her distance from him, both physically and emotionally. "How are they deciding who gets on the ship?" she asked.

"A group of government officials and military leaders have already been selected. Scientists, doctors, and hunters were next."

"And everyone else?"

Jean scratched his ear and looked away from her. "Civilians will be chosen using a lottery system based on their ID numbers."

"I'll take my chances," she said, as she turned back to the window and put the cigarette to her lips.

"How can you say that?" He started to cross the room to move towards her, but another look from the blue-haired woman stopped him in his tracks. "We don't know how long it will be until the Pioneer 3 is ready. Coral could collapse by then." For the first time, Clio thought she saw tears forming in his deep blue eyes, now ringed with red. "You could die before getting off this planet," he said sadly. "Please come with me."

Clio inhaled on the cigarette again and thought carefully before answering. "I'm assuming that they're not putting you up in civilians' quarters, of course."

"No..."

"And if I come on board specifically with you, I'll be living with you, right?"

"Right."

She laughed bitterly. "_Nothing_ will have changed. I'll still be sitting around by myself, staring at the walls, wondering when you're going to be home. I'm not going to commit myself to years of loneliness."

He looked guilty. "You'd have the girls..." he offered.

Clio's eyes grew wide and she didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Elenor and Ult may be enough for you, but they're not for me." She extinguished the cigarette in a nearby ashtray and contemplated lighting another. "I appreciate your offer, I really do, but I'm going to have to decline."

"Please - "

She put her hand up, cutting him off. "If I get selected, I'll go, and hope that some of my friends make it, too. If not, I'll just keep on doing what I've always done and whatever happens, happens."

The doctor made one last attempt to change her mind. "If you don't get on that ship, it could be your death sentence."

"I know." She could tell how sincere he was, and she briefly wondered if she was making the right decision. "I don't doubt that you care about me, but I know you care about other things more. Coming in second or third to you isn't the life I want."

As much as he wanted to, Jean couldn't deny her accusations. "Wherever you wind up, I hope you find someone who can make you happy." He opened the door to leave. "Goodbye, Clio."

"Goodbye, Jean," she said for what she knew could be the last time. After the door closed, she resumed staring out the window at the dismal sky, not knowing how much more time she had on her home planet.


End file.
